Wordiezett So much average

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

GD Cugham Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais seized the opportunity the 1970s genre of British sitcom movies offered. they took it, few other scriptwriters did. This was, namely, the chance to do on the silver screen what they could not do on prime-time BBC. Lovable caricatures are subtly toned down here - Fletcher begins with the persona from the sitcom then changes. The quipping, upbeat Fletcher is revealed as a mask for the born loser/survivor he truly is.The opening scenes where new character 'Grudge', a new, young inmate, is booked in and led around by the wardens could easily have been taken from John McKenzie's 'A Sense of Freedom'. Mckay, too, is deftly rendered a touch more three-dimensional. His mantra bemoaning the inmates' status as lower than normal people betrays his true feelings.Peter Vaughan's Kray-like 'Grout' again all but turns to the camera and says "That's a cartoon version of me on the telly - I'm really a nasty piece of work'. The film very subtly does that which recent Brit comedy-turned-movie 'The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse' deliberately attempted - the creation of real-world versions, far less comfortable versions, of the stalwart caricatures of the TV show's pantheon.

AndyP2609 I am also a big fan of Porridge and of all Ronnie Barker's work. Porridge is the absolute best example of a British sitcom (don't care what the public vote was!), and this film didn't disappoint.Although there were a few repeated jokes (the alternative version of 'Scotland the Brave' is a particular favourite), it is the finest example of top comedy actors performing work by top comedy writers.The fact that there are so many top quality quotes on this site from the film says it all. It's also a credit to Ronnie Barker's talent that he can appear in two vastly contrasting sitcoms as completely different characters at the same time (this, and Open All Hours), and be so believable in both roles.There's no coincidence that Olivier said he was his favourite actor!

nmk2002uk Finally got this on disk the other month. And it was worth the wait. As an avid Porridge and Ronnie Barker fan, I thought the film done justice to a really funny series. Other movie spin offs have been mundane(On the Buses, for example), but this one was well written and well acted. Starring the original cast from the series (apart from Christopher Biggins), it continued Norman Stanley Fletcher's fight against the system. Even though it did contain a couple of jokes from the program, its a mere overlook to a really funny film. Even Fletcher with his little scams (McKays teeth bein gone example) have trasferred well to the big screen version. This is one film you wouldn't want to do time!

Niki-22 Many 1970s British TV comedy series were made into films - most were dire. This film is excellent, but below the level of the TV series which is one of the funniest programmes ever made. The characters (most of them) are all there from the TV series, but the pace is slower and thereby suffers in comparison. Despite this, the film is definitely worth watching. The plot centres around an elaborate escape plan which doesn't quite work the way it was intended, but Fletch, Godber, MacKay and Barrowclough can all be relied on. Perhaps the star of the film is Peter Vaughan as Grouty - at the centre of the action for a change. See the film - but see the TV series too.